


is there something you two would like to share with the class?

by chanyeonot



Category: NU'EST, Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, M/M, american school system bc idk any other, i just rly love minhwan ok, jaehwan's weird but cuddly, the ongniel in this is such a side ship but they're goals tbh, they're seniors n minhyun's the student body pres
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2017-10-20
Packaged: 2019-01-20 10:07:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12430536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chanyeonot/pseuds/chanyeonot
Summary: jaehwan and seongwoo pass notes in class about how good minhyun looks (well that's what jaehwan's saying and seongwoo's already heard it all), they get caught, and tea gets spilledor: jaehwan gets exposed but it leads to good things





	is there something you two would like to share with the class?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kimjaehwan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimjaehwan/gifts).



> i’m really drawn to minhwan as a couple bc jaehwan’s a crazy puppy and minhyun is honestly above the woes of mortals and it seems like it’d be such a one-sided ship but i ain’t about that life. minhwan just makes my heart hurt in a really good way. also this idea popped into my head in the middle of my psych class and i couldn't let it go.
> 
> (also this is gifted to kimjaehwan bc their minhwan work kept me motivated to complete this one so the fact that i actually finished this is thanks to them)

Carefully, Jaehwan took the already crinkled notebook paper and crumpled it in his hands. He glanced up at the whiteboard, where Mr. Han was delivering an incredibly unenlightening lecture about how to distinguish graphs based on sine and cosine equations. Jaehwan shaped the paper into a ball in his hands and then waited impatiently for him to turn around and scribble vague examples on the board before spinning in his seat, making eye contact with Seongwoo from across the room, and lobbing the ball of paper at him. Seongwoo, somehow, caught it with deft fingers.

Jaehwan returned his attention to the very front of the classroom, where Mr. Han had resumed his fantastically boring monologue about graphed lines passing through the origin. Due to assigned seating and the same math teacher he had last year, Jaehwan hadn’t been able to snag a back of the room desk and therefore had to at least pretend to pay attention. As a junior he hadn’t even feigned interest, and Mr. Han had been perfectly aware of that when he designated seats for this class. He’d smacked Jaehwan right into a front row seat where he could keep a better eye on the disruptive student. Jaehwan, of course, had constructed a wonderful three-page argument with sources properly cited as to why he should be allowed at least a third-row seat, but Mr. Han hadn’t budged. And so here Jaehwan was stuck.

Seongwoo hadn’t escaped the front row either. He and Jaehwan had caused quite a few disruptions last year, so they’d been placed in the front of the classroom and on opposite ends of the row. Thankfully they had the same uncaring classmates as last year, so they were still able to do their thing, they just had to do it more discreetly.

Jaehwan wrote something down on his paper about how Mr. Han needed to get the stick out of his ass instead of copying down the useless example graph that belonged to an equally useless concept, nodding down at his words thoughtfully. He only glanced up when he saw Mr. Han move in his periphery. He looked over to Seongwoo, who was already staring at him, then he caught the paper the older boy threw at him.

Jaehwan smoothed out the paper and made an offended face at what was written. He wrote down a reply while trying to look like he was jotting down some notes then waited for Mr. Han to turn towards the board again. When he did, Jaehwan made eye contact with Seongwoo and threw the paper.

“Is there something you two would like to share with the class?” came a thin, monotone voice, and Jaehwan could feel every pair of eyes turn towards him and Seongwoo. He looked at Mr. Han, who had seemed to face the class again before he was supposed to. He shifted his glare from Seongwoo to Jaehwan so neither of them felt as though they weren’t receiving their fair share of unadulterated hate.

Finally his eyes trained on Seongwoo. The poor boy resembled a deer caught in headlights. He frantically glanced over to Jaehwan, who was looking back at him with the same expression.

“It’s just a quick explanation of the main difference between sine and cosine functions,” Jaehwan said, hoping desperately that he came off as easygoing as he was trying to be. It must not have been convincing enough, however, or else maybe Mr. Han was drawing on his institutionalized hatred for the pair of best friends, because he approached Seongwoo and held out his hand.

“Let me see it, then,” he said flatly.

Seongwoo looked back at Jaehwan who was shaking his head vigorously. If Seongwoo handed over that paper, Jaehwan would be canceled. Forever. Surely his best friend wouldn’t sell him out like that.

Guilt spread over Seongwoo’s face and Jaehwan knew he was done for. The older boy passed the still balled up paper to Mr. Han and Jaehwan felt his soul leave his body.

The teacher returned to his spot in front of the whiteboard. He unwrinkled the paper with spidery fingers and rotated it so the writing was right side up. His eyes skirted over the paper and Jaehwan tried to prepare himself for the horror that was about to come.

Mr. Han cleared his throat. “‘God, doesn’t he look fine today? His parents made him well.’ I’m assuming this is you, Mr. Kim. It looks like your chicken scratch,” he started, and a small part of Jaehwan died. “‘Who? Winky face.’ And Mr. Ong, that must be you. And Mr. Kim again… ‘You know who I’m talking about, you dumb―’ Mr. Kim, language.”

When Jaehwan glared at him, Seongwoo at least had the decency to look slightly apologetic.

“‘You mean me? I always look fine.’ ‘No you look like a dead raccoon.’” A few snickers rippled through the class, but Jaehwan braced himself for the real killer. “‘I’m talking about Minhyun.’”

The silence snapped, and the whole class broke into wolf whistles and cheers. A short disbelieving laugh burst from Mr. Han’s throat. Jaehwan stared at his desk like it was the only thing left in the world.

“‘Yeah no―’ Oh, Mr. Ong, that’s a bad word. ‘He’s all you ever talk about.’ ‘That’s because he’s the only thing worth talking about. Did you see how well those jeans fit him? It should be illegal.’”

The wolf whistles came back full force, and Jaehwan wondered if he could make it to the window before anyone would be able to stop him. It was only ten or so feet away. If he made a break for it he could probably reach it.

“‘Okay yes I saw. They do look good.’ ‘ _Good?_ That’s it? God what I wouldn’t give for him to go down on me.’”

The cheers erupted again, this time louder and more forceful. And honestly, the cheers weren’t that bad. Jaehwan loved attention. It was just…

 _Minhyun_ was in that class.

“That seems to have been where I cut you off,” Mr. Han said. Fully satisfied, he handed the paper back to Seongwoo. “Take this and Mr. Kim to the principal’s office. I’ll send him an email to let him know you’re on your way.”

A few moments later Jaehwan felt a hand on his shoulder, and he steeled himself to leave the classroom with his head held high. He stood slowly, and the whoops and hollers that hadn’t abided yet grew with a new vigor. Jaehwan lifted his chin up and followed Seongwoo out of the class, refusing to even risk a glance back at the subject of the whole exchange.

 

―

 

“Jaehwan, listen―”

Jaehwan stopped to fix Seongwoo with the most betrayed and murderous glare he could channel. It would’ve scared the older boy into eternal servitude if he hadn’t been receiving similar looks nearly his whole life, but even one of this magnitude managed to halt him in his tracks for a few seconds.

“Jae, I didn’t have any other choice!”

Jaehwan simply turned back around and continued walking towards the principal’s office. Seongwoo trailed after him desperately, the wrinkled paper of notes still clutched in his hands.

“What else could I have done? You know he had me cornered! There was nothing I could do but give it to him―”

“You traitorous dick!” Jaehwan finally shrieked, spinning to stare Seongwoo in the eyes. “You could’ve fucking eaten the paper! Thrown it out the window! Stuffed it down your pants! You didn’t have to give it to him!”

“Okay I see that now but I couldn’t think like that in the heat of the moment! Besides, there wasn’t much harm done anyway, everyone already knows you’d give your ass to Minhy―”

“ _No harm done_?” Jaehwan’s voice rocketed up several octaves in his distress. “Seongwoo, Hwang Minhyun knows I like him!”

“He probably already knew,” Seongwoo pointed out. Honestly, it was most likely true. Basically the whole school knew about Jaehwan’s enormous crush on Minhyun, but Jaehwan himself had never heard confirmation that said crush knew about it, so he was able to exist happily in his own little bubble of blissful ignorance.

“But now I _know_ he knows! He literally knows I want to have sex with him! How can any of that be okay?”

At this point Jaehwan was bordering on hysterics; they weren’t even to the principal’s office yet and he was just spiraling downwards at a gaining speed. Jaehwan had almost made it to graduation without Minhyun finding out, but now everything was ruined, and he still had to survive almost the entirety of his senior year knowing that Minhyun knew and honestly maybe it would be easier to just move schools. He’d fare fine without having to deal with Mr. Han ever again and Seongwoo didn’t really mean that much to him either anymore. If he moved schools then he’d be able to never see Minhyun again and damn did that sound appealing right now. Maybe he could even grow his hair out and get a cool patterned strap for his guitar. That kind of freedom seemed like heaven compared to what he was going to have to deal with―

“Jae, you have to calm down a little. We’re… we’re here.”

Startled by Seongwoo’s voice, Jaehwan shook his head and looked up. _PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE_ stared back at him, black letters printed on clouded glass. He took a deep breath, gripped the doorknob, and shot a final “Fuck you” at his best (was “best” the right term? maybe “ex” was more appropriate? or “former”?) friend before entering the dreaded office.

As Jaehwan sat in a cushy maroon chair with Seongwoo next to him and the cursed page of notes clutched in Dr. Park’s hands, he took a moment to tune out everything the principal was saying and instead reflect on how exactly he’d ended up in this position.

Three years ago, Jaehwan had been a small freshman with a bad haircut and a voice that puberty was really running through the wringer. He was short and physically awkward (and socially too, if he’s being honest) and he really needed to get his braces off. High school had been the scariest thing that had ever happened to little Kim Jaehwan. Other kids were terrifying and he lost his socks on multiple occasions (sometimes due to fright and sometimes because the upperclassmen would take them when he was changing after gym). What Jaehwan needed was someone to show him the light in that dark dark time.

That someone came in the form of Ong Seongwoo, a wildly outspoken fellow freshman also suffering from a bad haircut and a cracking voice. But the difference between Jaehwan and Seongwoo was that the latter knew how to work his flaws. Everyone and their mother loved the kid affectionately nicknamed Ong just because he made everybody laugh. He was so much fun to be around and he quickly established himself as an occupant of one of the highest rungs on the social ladder. Soon he was voted the Face of the Freshman Class, and honestly there was no better person for the job. Ong Seongwoo perfectly embodied what everyone wished they could be. And when small Jaehwan made a joke under his breath in history that made The Class Clown™ laugh so hard he cried and was subsequently kicked out of the classroom, he got to hop aboard the Seongwoo Train and he’d been along for the ride ever since.

During his awkward (well, most awkward) stage, Jaehwan also met Hwang Minhyun. In a much more civil manner, they exchanged names when they were assigned to a group project together in biology. To this day, Jaehwan is still a firm believer that Hwang Minhyun never experienced an awkward day in his life. While the younger boy had to experience… an entire lifetime of it, God or whoever had thoughtfully looked down at Minhyun and probably decided to pass along all his suffering to Jaehwan instead. Because that was Jaehwan’s luck.

Either way, Minhyun captured Jaehwan’s attention and kept it. The older boy was regal, put together, intelligent. Maybe that’s what attracted Jaehwan to him in the first place―he always seemed to know what he was doing. Meanwhile Jaehwan considered himself successful if he managed to find an only semi-clashing outfit in the morning. But Minhyun… he knew everything, how to do everything, how to fix everything. It was his untouchable aura and Dr. Phil-level problem solving skills that got him voted class president in his freshman year, right out of the gate. To Jaehwan, Minhyun was all his aspirations in human form.

Eventually, Jaehwan came to appreciate Minhyun for more than just the way he had his life together. The older boy became _fine_ , or at least Jaehwan started seeing him in a bit more of a physical way. Jaehwan’s confidence shot through the roof when the orthodontist tore his braces off and his mom finally took him to the hairdresser. His voice evened out too, and he quickly found happiness in singing. When Jaehwan walked into school the first day of his junior year looking like an entirely new person and seeing everyone in a different light as well, Minhyun suddenly seemed so much more beautiful than he had before. Jaehwan can remember exactly what he felt as he passed Minhyun that day in the hall―butterflies going berserk in his stomach and his heart speeding up so fast he thought it might burst out of his chest entirely. His knees got all weak and Minhyun didn’t even glance over at him.

Because if it was his unreachable and practically royal air that landed Minhyun the position of class president, that same air kept him from becoming close friends with Jaehwan. The younger boy may be near the same social level because of his friend status with Seongwoo and the fact that everyone just liked him anyway, but he still existed in an entirely different world than Minhyun. The only time they ever spoke to each other was to discuss something about homework or maybe a quick conversation about the weather. For the most part, Jaehwan just pined after Minhyun and the older boy simply did his own thing without worrying about anything else.

And Jaehwan was perfectly content with the arrangement. He got to crush helplessly on Minhyun while never having to concern himself over whether or not Minhyun liked him back―because it was very obvious that he didn’t and that he never would. The premature rejection helped Jaehwan feel less guilty every time he thought about how nice Minhyun’s thighs looked in that pair of red pants he’d worn once because he lost a bet with one of his friends. Jaehwan lived in his happy little bubble with Seongwoo by his side and everything was fine.

Until today, it seemed. Because today Seongwoo had ruined it all and the rest of the year was going to be absolute hell.

Jaehwan sighed, and Dr. Park paused mid-speech to give him a pointed look. “Am I boring you, Mr. Kim?” he asked over the bifocals that pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Only a little bit, Dr. Park,” Jaehwan replied. “I was wondering if you could just suspend us or something so we can go ahead to lunch?” The bell had rung like five minutes ago, and honestly Jaehwan just wanted to sort out everything over some dependably gross cafeteria food.

Dr. Park sighed this time, all too familiar with Jaehwan’s and Seongwoo’s antics. “Detention after school for a week. You understand what you did was inappropriate, correct?”

Both Jaehwan and Seongwoo nodded half-heartedly. Dr. Park waved them off and gave the paper to a grimacing Jaehwan before they left.

“Only a week of detention, that’s not too bad,” Seongwoo said. “Just wait until Mr. Han finds out―he’ll be livid that’s all we have to suffer through.”

Jaehwan just sighed again. Seongwoo eyed him.

“You seem awfully calm,” he observed.

“I’m screaming on the inside,” Jaehwan promised. “How much do coffins cost?”

“Stop being so dramatic.” Seongwoo rolled his eyes only to be fixed with an an incredulous _are you serious_ look. He bobbed his head in acknowledgment. “Okay, fine. But, think about it this way―maybe this is what needed to happen. Now Minhyun knows for sure that you like him and maybe he’ll make a move.”

At that, Jaehwan squawked. “Make a _move_? Ong Seongwoo, why on earth would Minhyun make a _move_? Where would he move? To the left?”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Seongwoo argued. “You’re the Face of the Senior Class.”

Jaehwan came to a full stop and stared at his best friend. “Woo. I was voted that as a _joke_. I only ran because you dared me! You should be the Face of the Senior Class! You gave up your almost four year streak so I could run because it was _funny_.”

“But you’re a good face of our class, Jae. Minhyun knows you better because you had to attend all those student government meetings―”

“I _hate_ those.”

“No you don’t. You get to see Minhyun up close and personal. I know you don’t do any work and just stare at him the whole time, Daniel told me.”

Jaehwan gasped. “That sneaky bastard. It’s not fair to use your vice president boyfriend as a spy.”

Seongwoo rolled his eyes again. “Jae, I’m actually trying to be serious here. You and Minhyun aren’t strangers. There’s a total possibility he likes you too―maybe not on the same borderline obsessive level―but still, there’s an actual chance he might make a move now that he knows how much you like him.”

They’d reached the cafeteria now, so Jaehwan just slumped his shoulders and sighed one last time. “It’s fine, my life’s over, I’ll throw in the towel now. Let’s just go eat some food we’ll probably regurgitate later, I’m starving.”

 

―

 

Jaehwan spent the entirety of detention drawing out all the things that could be going through Minhyun’s head right now in a seemingly chaotic flow chart over his biology homework. Embarrassment, humiliation, anger, disgust, surprise, the desire to change his name and switch schools. Move to another country existed as an extension of switching schools, but it was written and circled in the far corner of the paper. Jaehwan thought that step, while not being a radical option for himself, might be a little much for Minhyun.

See, for the most part, Jaehwan knew he was liked by nearly everyone. He also knew that he was a walking embarrassment. There were a lot of extremely questionable things that Jaehwan had done during his time as high schooler. While many gained him friends or admirers at the least, many also caused him unmeasurable public humiliation. One time in his sophomore year Jihoon told him there was no way he could do a split, and so Jaehwan found himself some space in the middle of the cafeteria and proceeded to split not only his legs but also his pants. The whole cafeteria got a good look at his Batman boxers and to Jihoon’s immense joy, Jaehwan had no extra pants on hand so he spent the rest of the day with his flannel wrapped around his waist and his legs crossed awkwardly so the massive tear wouldn’t rip more.

There was also the time he challenged the dean of students to a rap battle at the school assembly, but that was a different story. The point is, Jaehwan knew that while he was likeable, he was also good at embarrassing himself and everyone affiliated with him. And if Mr. Han’s brutal exposure of Jaehwan’s thinly veiled feelings did anything, it certainly embarrassed Minhyun. Which, honestly, was the last thing Jaehwan wanted. Experiencing humiliation himself was fine and so was dragging a few select people (Seongwoo) down with him, but he really really didn’t want Minhyun to feel embarrassed because of him. It was just a dick move on Jaehwan’s part. Minhyun didn’t _deserve_ to go through that kind of suffering.

“Mr. Ong, is that a phone I see?”

In the desk next to him, Seongwoo pressed the off button of his phone as quickly as he could. The light that shone by his lap switched off and he shook his head vigorously. “Absolutely not Ms. Lee, I don’t even know what phones are,” he replied hastily. Jaehwan rolled his eyes. Seongwoo had totally been texting his boyfriend. But that was fine. Jaehwan was perfectly content to wallow in his pain alone while his best friend lived happily with his successful and stable love life.

Detention seemed to drag on forever, and so did the following week. The hype of Jaehwan getting exposed died down virtually the day after it happened, as literally the whole school did in fact know about his crush anyway. In math class Jaehwan found his seat immediately and avoided looking anywhere near Minhyun’s half of the classroom. Minhyun in turn didn’t approach Jaehwan about the situation, so everything was totally fine.

Until Minhyun did approach him. A student government meeting had just ended (Jaehwan kind of really hated being the Face of the Senior Class because the title came with far more responsibilities that Seongwoo had conveniently left out when he dared Jaehwan to run, but the boy did try to fulfill his duties to his class the best he could). The whole hour had been painful; Minhyun had spent the time talking confidently about whatever he was talking about, and Jaehwan had been rendered unable to perform his usual task of staring at Minhyun’s lips as they moved. He couldn’t bear looking at the older boy ever since the incident, so he was reduced to staring down at the handout and reading the same page of words over and over again. Normally, Jaehwan was able to stare at Minhyun unhindered. But now that the recently promoted study body president knew, nothing was the same.

Jaehwan bolted the second the meeting ended. Being around Minhyun felt suffocating; the tension was just too much for him. Kim Jaehwan was never one to confront his problems head on. Running from them suited him much better.

The only issue was that Jaehwan was really out of shape and so when his problems ran after him, they usually caught up pretty quickly.

“Jaehwan!” Jaehwan’s biggest problem at the moment shouted after him, and he scrunched his face together and tried to just pretend he hadn’t heard the older boy. But when another call of his name came, this time closer, he couldn’t fake deafness anymore. Steeling himself for whatever was to come, Jaehwan molded his face into what he hoped did not resemble absolute terror and turned to face Minhyun.

“Jaehwan,” Minhyun said again, now caught up to the younger boy. The other students from the meeting passed them; some of them looked like they wanted to stay and watch, but everyone ended up continuing by them, leaving Jaehwan and Minhyun alone in the hall. Despite himself, Jaehwan couldn’t help but notice how good the student body president looked. He wore a pair of jeans that didn’t leave much to the imagination and a half-tucked black flannel Jaehwan honestly wished he could rip off his body. Minhyun was the king of the effortlessly gorgeous hair, and when he ran his hands through it Jaehwan had to fight the urge to touch it. Because touching other people’s hair for no real reason was weird.

“Yeah?” Jaehwan asked.

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” Minhyun replied.

The younger boy frowned. “You have?”

“Yes.” Minhyun swallowed, and Jaehwan tried really hard not to get distracted by the way his Adam’s apple bobbed from the movement. Minhyun took a deep breath and plunged forward. “You don’t stare at me anymore.”

Jaehwan blinked. “Um, what?”

Minhyun’s brows furrowed as he visibly tried to come up with a proper elaboration. “You used to… stare at me. All the time. Except in math because I sit behind you. But you don’t… you don’t stare at me anymore.”

“Um, okay?” Jaehwan was having a really hard time following where this was going. Was Minhyun trying to point out that he’d noticed the shorter boy’s borderline obsessive staring for the past year and half? Was he trying to imply that he appreciated he’d stopped? Or was he just bringing up an observation to Jaehwan’s attention? Because Jaehwan was just as aware as he was that he’d been keeping his eyes trained on anything besides Minhyun recently.

“You know, that was a really rude thing of Mr. Han to do. He shouldn’t have read those notes between you and Seongwoo like that in front of the whole class.”

Jaehwan blinked again. “Uh, yeah.” He gripped the straps of his backpack a little tighter. He still had no idea where any of this was going.

“Yeah, um, right.” Minhyun bounced a little on the balls of his feet, and Jaehwan realized that he’d never seen the older boy nervous like this before. The class president of three years and student body president of two months had never been anything except put together and calm in every situation, so seeing him so fidgety and unsure of what to say made Jaehwan feel on edge. Something really must not be right if Minhyun was this unhinged.

“Yeah,” Jaehwan said slowly, trying to decide if now was an appropriate time to leave. Everyone had already cleared the school with the bell having rung a long time ago and the meeting dismissed as well, and it was awkward with just the two of them standing too close in the middle of the hallway.

Jaehwan finally just made a decision. He gave the older boy a curt nod and turned to walk towards the main doors when suddenly he felt a hand on his upper arm. He looked back in surprise. Minhyun let go as if he hadn’t even meant to reach out in the first place, and the air just felt so so thick and tense. Jaehwan once again waited for for the other boy to say something as he bit at his lip.

“This is not going well,” Minhyun muttered, more to himself than to Jaehwan. “Um. Did you mean… did you mean what you wrote?”

A short laugh burst from Jaehwan’s throat. “That your jeans should be illegal or that I’d like you to go down on me?”

Minhyun swallowed again. “Um, either. Both?”

Well, it was now or never. Jaehwan gripped his backpack straps so tightly his knuckles turned white and fought the temptation of the never option. _Just do it_ , he could hear Seongwoo in his head. So he did it. “Yeah. I did mean them.”

And what happened next was the last thing Jaehwan ever expected to happen. A shy smile spread over Minhyun’s face like he couldn’t help it. There was no show of disgust, embarrassment―nothing that Jaehwan had anticipated. “Yeah?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Would you want to go on a date with me?”

Jaehwan choked on the sudden offer. “What?”

“A date. Tomorrow night? I’ll pick you up?”

“Um, what? Why? What?”

Minhyun’s smile morphed into a confident grin. “Because I think the same things about you. I just never knew if you liked me back.”

“Think the same things about― Liked you back― _What?_ You… you like me? And you want to go down on me?!” Jaehwan squeaked.

“Yes, to both of those things. But we can take it slow. We can start with a date tomorrow night?”

Jaehwan stared at him, his heart racing so fast he was surprised it stayed in his chest. “Yes. Um, definitely yes.”

“Great. I’ll pick you up at six.” Minhyun leaned forward, pressed a kiss to Jaehwan’s cheek, and then he was walking out the main doors, leaving Jaehwan totally alone. The younger boy stood in the middle of the hall with his hand pressed to his cheek and mouth fallen open until he remembered how to move.

 

―

 

When Seongwoo found out, he screamed. Jaehwan called him on his way home, feet scraping on the sidewalk because his legs still felt like jelly. Seongwoo was with Daniel, and the two of them celebrated on the other end of the line while Jaehwan rolled his eyes but couldn’t keep the smile off his face.

“I told you!” Seongwoo hyped him(self) up. Jaehwan didn’t complain only because Seongwoo had, in fact, told him that this was a possible outcome of the disaster.

“I knew he’d eventually get the courage to ask you!” Daniel exclaimed.

“You knew?” both Jaehwan and Seongwoo asked in disbelief.

“He only mentioned it to me―Seongwoo don’t look at me like that, I couldn’t tell you because you’d tell Jaehwan and then it’d all be ruined.”

“You have no faith in me,” Seongwoo muttered, but he didn’t make much a fuss besides that because he knew it was true just as well as Jaehwan did.

“Anyway, congratulations Jaehwan!” Daniel said excitedly. “Make sure you treat Minhyun well!”

Jaehwan smiled at his shoes. “Yeah, yeah, thank you Daniel.”

“And make sure you tell Minhyun to treat _you_ right!” Seongwoo added. “You can bring up my name if you want. Just as a scare tactic.”

“You don’t scare anyone,” Daniel laughed, and Jaehwan laughed too. He thanked both of them profusely before hanging up and spending the rest of the night thinking about why Minhyun could like him and nothing about all the homework that was due tomorrow.

 

―

 

By the next morning, Jaehwan had fully convinced himself that the events of the previous afternoon had never happened and he had made it all up. Which was very unlike him, because he’d been living in his happy closed-off world for the last three years and tricking himself into thinking something had happened didn’t seem like a problem he would cause for himself. He just assumed that since Seongwoo had messed it all up, his brain was trying to figure out a way to fix it.

And for some reason Minhyun asking him out was the solution. Even though it was totally fucking crazy.

Completely believing that he was still in hell, Jaehwan slid into his first period classroom just before the final bell rang. Minhyun was sitting in his usual second row seat. It was angled perfectly from Jaehwan’s back of the class desk so that the younger boy to stare directly at him with no other people in his way. The opportune positioning may have influenced Jaehwan’s careful selection of his desk on the first day of class. Maybe.

Mr. Yoon began his lecture and Jaehwan settled into his seat. He was careful to keep his eyes focused on his teacher and away from Minhyun. But his brain hated him, so he didn’t even realize his gaze had shifted over to the older boy until said boy looked straight back at him. Their eyes met and Jaehwan jolted, hands and face heating up with the knowledge he’d been caught. But then Minhyun smiled, probably one of the biggest smiles he’d ever seen on him, and Jaehwan just stared back. Minhyun’s brows furrowed then in what looked like concern. His lips parted as if he was about to mouth something, but then Mr. Yoon was asking him a question about English contractions and he had to turn away to easily supply the correct answer. Jaehwan took the opportunity to jerk his gaze back to the front of the class, but he felt Minhyun’s eyes on him again after Mr. Yoon had approved of his answer. He held his breath and resisted the temptation to look back at him, and it was only after another minute or so that Minhyun finally gave up and paid attention to the lesson as well.

Jaehwan released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He tried to listen to what Mr. Yoon was saying, but he didn’t laugh at all the dad jokes like usual and all he could think about was what Minhyun had been about to say.

 

―

 

Minhyun managed to catch him after class. Mr. Yoon had been eyeing Jaehwan the whole period due to the student’s lack of enthusiasm at his super lame jokes, and Jaehwan in turn had been eager to bolt as soon as the bell rang. When the hour finally ended, the boy already had his stuff packed and was out of the classroom before their English teacher even had the chance to ask him to stay behind for a moment.

He might have been able to escape Mr. Yoon’s alarmingly personal questioning, but he wasn’t able to escape Minhyun. The older boy grabbed his arm in the hall as he tried to flee, effectively preventing him from beelining away. “Jaehwan,” Minhyun said, and Jaehwan hated the confusion he heard in his voice. Why was there confusion? What was there to be confused about?

The other students passed them, most of them grumbling something about the pair being in the way. But all Jaehwan could really think about was Minhyun, who was still holding onto his arm and looking at him with furrowed brows.

“Is everything okay?” he asked.

Jaehwan thought that was a pretty loaded question. And a pretty hard one to answer, considering he didn’t even really know what was happening in the first place. “Uh, yeah?”

Minhyun’s frown deepened. “Are you alright?”

Jaehwan managed a tight nod. Minhyun’s hand was starting to feel like fire on his arm. His clothes weren’t enough to protect him from the heat of the older boy’s skin.

“Are you second-guessing saying yes?” Minhyun asked in a voice laced with uncertainty. “To the date? Are you having second thoughts?”

Jaehwan’s mouth opened and then closed. So he _hadn’t_ made up yesterday’s events. It’d all happened. Hwang Minhyun had really asked him out on a date.

Wow, what a year this was turning out to be.

“Of course not,” he reassured quickly, and he marveled at the way the worried creases smoothed out on Minhyun’s face. “Just nervous is all, I guess.”

Minhyun smiled all wide and dashing right at him. Jaehwan was pretty sure he’d never seen something so beautiful before in his life. “I’m nervous too, don’t worry, but I’ve got something really fun planned. I’ll still be picking you up at six.”

“Okay,” Jaehwan said, because his brain was having some difficulty coming up with appropriate replies.

The sprint bell rang, and Minhyun jerked his head toward the sound. “Ah, I can’t be late to physics again. Ms. Lee will skin me alive.” He smiled widely at Jaehwan again before finally releasing his grip on his arm and heading down the hall.

It took Jaehwan a few moments to process what Minhyun had said. “Again?” he called after the student body president in disbelief. Hwang Minhyun? Late to physics? _Again?_ No way.

Minhyun just turned and sent Jaehwan a new, mischievous smile as he walked backwards. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Kim Jaehwan!” he shouted back down the empty hallway. “I want to show you all of me! I’ll see you at six!”

And so Jaehwan just stood there until Minhyun disappeared from sight and long after the second period bell rang.

 

―

 

As it turns out, Minhyun was right (but who’s surprised?). There was so much more to him than Jaehwan had ever imagined there could be.

If you asked Jaehwan what he would use to describe Minhyun, he would answer with an onion. Just like an onion, Minhyun was made up of layer after layer, some deeper than others but all still important and wonderful. There were so many different parts of him, and if you took the time to cut into him, he would show you them all. That, and he made Jaehwan cry. Usually in a good way.

Minhyun had arrived at Jaehwan’s house (how did he get the address? Jaehwan doesn’t know) dressed in the most casual pair of ripped jeans and a loose gray t-shirt. After approximately three hours of screaming at Seongwoo about what he was supposed to wear (which he didn’t know), Jaehwan had ended up settling on something that walked the line between going to the grocery store in the middle of the night and attending your ninety-three year old grandmother’s birthday party. Minhyun had smiled when he answered the door, and Jaehwan got to slide into the passenger seat of Minhyun’s nice Lexus while its owner held the door open for him.

In all honesty, Jaehwan hadn’t known what he’d been expecting the date to be like. But he didn’t expect to pull into the parking lot of a joint arcade and pizza place. And, again if he’s being totally honest, he wasn’t disappointed.

Minhyun was fun. Competitive too, but not nearly as much as Jaehwan, and so he was content to sit back on certain games and let Jaehwan win. When he played solo games, the younger boy cheered him on with an embarrassing amount of enthusiasm. He couldn’t help it; he’d tried to reign himself in for the date, but Minhyun just made him giddy. And watching the dark-haired boy absolutely annihilate enemy aliens with skilled aiming and focused eyes made him clap and squawk like a crazy seal.

“Go get ‘em Minhyun! Kill those aliens! Wait look behind you―oh fuck yeah, blow that sucker up!” Jaehwan shouted as he watched the screen attentively.

Minhyun just laughed though, all teeth and crinkled eyes. He beat the high score of the game and Jaehwan cheered so loud that not even the booming arcade music and deafening chatter of other gamers could drown him out. Minhyun only just managed to return the plastic gun to the slot before Jaehwan was tugging him towards another game.

By the time they’d collectively earned enough tickets to trade in for the big Squirtle plushie behind the counter, both their stomachs were rumbling. Minhyun exchanged the tickets for the massive stuffed animal and presented it to Jaehwan with a wide grin and an exaggerated bow. Jaehwan gracefully accepted it, promising visitation rights, and then they made their way towards the pizza part of the place. The night couldn’t have been more perfect as Jaehwan smiled to himself, one of his hands clutched around the Squirtle and his other one held in Minhyun’s.

The younger boy quickly succumbed to a food coma after they ate an entire large pizza together. Minhyun made an executive decision to cut the night short because Jaehwan was literally seconds away from falling asleep, but when Jaehwan protested, the taller boy smiled at him gently and promised they would go out again soon. And the next time they wouldn’t eat so much food.

“Tonight was fun,” Minhyun finally said. He’d walked Jaehwan to the front door of his house, and they’d just spent a full sappy minute looking at the purely elated (and slightly asleep in the younger boy’s case) expressions on each other’s faces. Jaehwan couldn’t believe he was standing here on his front porch with his hands in his crush’s.

“Mm,” he agreed, too caught up in the feeling of Minhyun’s thumbs rubbing slow circles onto the back of his hand and the intoxicating scent of his cologne to form any coherent sentences.

“Can I take you out again? We can go somewhere nicer if you want.”

A sleepy but unsuppressable smile overtook Jaehwan’s face. When he wakes up the next morning, he’s going to blame all the weird shit he said to Minhyun while standing on his front porch wholly on his wacked out and blissfully tired brain. But in the moment he just let it slip past his already basically useless filter. “I don’t care where we go,” he said. “Anywhere is perfect as long as you’re with me.”

Minhyun scrunched up his nose. “I don’t know if I would’ve asked you on a date if I’d have known you were going to be this cheesy.”

If Jaehwan hadn’t still been feeling all the pizza and happy butterflies in the bottom of his stomach, he probably would’ve freaked out. They’d only been on one date―it was too soon for Minhyun to be joking about potentially rescinding his dating proposal. But, because he wasn’t thinking clearly and his confidence always tended to get a nice boost when he was a little loopy, Jaehwan just smiled wider and said, “You know you love it.”

The gentle smile Minhyun gave him made all the happy stomach butterflies flutter their wings. “I do,” he murmured, and Jaehwan melted.

Suddenly the porch lights flickered off then on again. It was enough to half-pull Jaehwan out of his dazed state. He shot a quick glance towards the front door where his mom was probably on the other side waiting for him to come in so she could grill him about how the night went. “Thank you,” he said to Minhyun. “Tonight was more than I ever imagined it could’ve been. I know it’s Friday, but… could I see you again tomorrow?”

Minhyun’s smile grew tenfold. “I’d love it if you would. I, um, got your number from Daniel a couple days ago, so I’ll text you?”

Jaehwan tried to swallow down the happy giggle that bubbled up in his throat. Minhyun had asked Daniel for his number. A couple days ago, no less! “Sounds great. Thank you, again.” His tired ass totally forgot that kisses could be a thing, but Minhyun reminded him by tugging gently on his arm when he turned to leave. The older boy drew him into a soft, warm kiss that filled Jaehwan with the overwhelming urge to never pull away. Minhyun’s lips were honestly a bit of a letdown after all the dreaming Jaehwan had done about them, but that was just because Jaehwan’s imagination was absolutely ridiculous and his brain held things to unreachable standards. But everything about the way Minhyun kissed him made Jaehwan crumble, with his slow movements and sweet-tasting lips, and the shorter boy clutched at Minhyun’s shirt in a feeble attempt to keep himself on his feet.

Minhyun was the first to pull away because Jaehwan sure as hell wasn’t going to be. He looked as satisfied as Jaehwan felt, and the thought that he’d made the other boy so content by kissing him sent the butterflies into total chaos. This time he wasn’t fast enough to fully cut off the giggle that escaped his mouth, but he clamped a hand over his wet lips to stifle the rest of it. Then he realized that his lips were wet because _Hwang_   _Minhyun had put his tongue on them_ , and then Jaehwan’s thoughts made a sharp left and he was having difficulty remembering how to function.

“Goodnight, Jaehwan,” Minhyun said quietly as if to not puncture the delicate atmosphere that still surrounded them outside of Jaehwan’s inner freak-out. With one last swift press of lips against the shorter boy’s forehead, he turned back down the path to his car. “I’ll see you tomorrow!” he called from the driver’s side of the car. “Sleep well!” And then he was driving away, leaving Jaehwan to stand there and stare after him in a paralyzing awe.

It wasn’t until his mother opened the door to hurry him inside so he could spill all the details that he realized he’d forgotten to say goodnight back.

 

―

 

Hwang Minhyun, Jaehwan quickly learned, was an absolute sucker for one Kim Jaehwan. At first it didn’t seem so obvious, but the more they hung out with Seongwoo and Daniel and the more the two of them pointed it out, the more he saw it. He could ask for anything, like a glass of water or an explanation for why hornets were so mean, and Minhyun would get it for him, either by dragging himself to his feet or opening the google search engine on his phone.

What threw him off initially was all the grumbling Minhyun would do between the request and the fulfillment of that request. There was a period of approximately one to six minutes that Minhyun would spent continuously refusing to do whatever Jaehwan had asked before he finally gave in, but Jaehwan didn’t really mind because instant gratification was apparently a problem for kids in his generation and he needed to learn some more patience.

The only exception to this trend was when he and Minhyun were cuddled on the couch watching some reality show Jaehwan was far too invested in. He could ask for anything, but Minhyun would refuse to move from where he was snuggled next to Jaehwan. “I’m too comfortable,” he’d explain, and Jaehwan would roll his eyes while trying to suppress the delighted smile that tugged at his lips. The only things Minhyun would give him in those circumstances were kisses, but honestly that was enough for him.

“You know,” Minhyun started one afternoon when Jaehwan was sitting on the couch with his boyfriend’s head in his lap. The younger boy threaded his fingers through his hair absentmindedly. The new episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians was at a commercial, so the volume was turned all the way down. At Minhyun’s voice, Jaehwan tipped his head down and hummed to show he was listening. “I’ve liked you for so long now.”

Jaehwan raised his brows in surprise. “Really?”

“Mmhmm,” affirmed Minhyun. “I thought you were crazy the first time I ever saw you―”

“Who doesn’t?” Jaehwan snorted. Minhyun just cracked a small smile before continuing.

“I thought you were out of your mind―I first saw you in that math class we shared in freshman year. It was the first day of the whole year and you got into a debate with Ms. Choi about why the math we learned in school was never going to help us in the real world and that if she wanted to teach us something useful then she should tell us how snakes reproduce.”

“I’m still not sure how they do it,” Jaehwan mumbled. He’d forgotten about that.

“I thought you were crazy for challenging a teacher like that. And then the stuff you did after that only got wilder. You know, I was there when you ripped your pants in the cafeteria.”

“ _No,_ ” the younger boy gasped, totally scandalized. His fingers stilled in his boyfriend’s hair at the revelation, but Minhyun nudged his head into his hand until he resumed his task.

“Yeah, I was.” Minhyun laughed at the memory. “I actually thought you were insane. But then… I’m not really sure when it happened, but at some point I just couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

The show had picked back up, and Jaehwan could see Khloe laughing at Kim in his periphery, but all he cared about was the fact that Minhyun had potentially been as caught up in him as he’d been in the older boy. “Yeah?” he asked, far too elated at the confession to come up with anything else.

“Yeah,” Minhyun smiled. “I still can’t stop thinking about you.”

Jaehwan didn’t even attempt to stop the ridiculously large smile that overtook his whole body. He just looked down into his boyfriend’s sincere eyes and let himself be totally overcome with joy. “I’ve liked you since freshman year,” he finally admitted. “Since I saw you help that one girl find her classroom even though you didn’t really know where you were going either.”

This time it was Minhyun who smiled so bright he outshined the sun. “Yeah?”

Jaehwan laughed softly (somehow). “Yeah.”

“Mm,” Minhyun sighed contentedly. The younger boy kept threading his hands through his hair, and Minhyun closed his eyes as he nuzzled into Jaehwan’s hand. “Will you sing me a song?” he asked.

“What?”

“Just sing me anything. I wanna listen to your voice.”

Jaehwan blushed. “Uh, okay.” He started singing a top 40 song because those were the only ones he really knew all the words to, but he slowed it down and kept his voice soft so it mimicked the feel of a lullaby. He finished the song and started another one even though Kris was yelling at Kylie just because seeing Minhyun so peaceful made the most beautiful feeling of happiness bloom in his chest.

 

―

 

After all the years Jaehwan had spent pining after Minhyun, all the years of mindlessly loving him but thinking nothing would ever come of it… the life he was living now seemed like a dream. Minhyun was, aside from his weird aversion to riding roller coasters no matter how much Jaehwan begged him to, the most wonderful boyfriend. He met Jaehwan’s mother three weeks after the two boys started dating, and Jaehwan swore she loved him more than she loved her own son. By their six month anniversary, Minhyun was calling her “mom” too.

And that was the other thing. Their six month anniversary. It was a Tuesday, unfortunately, but Jaehwan spent the whole day texting Minhyun cheesy pick up lines and far too many heart emojis and Minhyun threw little notes at Jaehwan in the classes they shared when the teachers weren’t looking. The younger boy caught them and stifled his laughter at the cute messages with the back of his hand. Their classmates were long used to the change Jaehwan had caused in Minhyun―the student body president had become (for the most part) a bundle of joy during the last six months, and at first the other students thought it was weird because since when did Minhyun’s laugh ever reach a volume louder than a low chuckle? (Jaehwan just made him laugh so hard he couldn’t breathe, was all.) But they got over it, and now the couple throwing notes in class didn’t faze them much.

The fun lasted until their third period class. Minhyun checked to make sure Mr. Han was writing on the board before turning to throw the balled up note at Jaehwan, who had to look back at him from his ghastly front row seat to make sure he knew the note was coming. Jaehwan caught it and quickly smothered it to his desk, but the damage had already been done.

“Is there something you two would like to share with the class?” Mr. Han’s flat voice cut through the otherwise quiet air. Jaehwan’s head jerked up from the still unopened ball of paper at the sound of it and his eyes ended up staring straight into Mr. Han’s. From the other side of the room, Seongwoo snickered (the traitor).

Shit.

“Not really,” Jaehwan said.

He risked a glance back at Minhyun, surprised to see him not looking even slightly embarrassed at being caught. It almost looked like… it almost looked like he’d meant for Mr. Han to see him throwing the note.

“Hand me the note, Mr. Kim,” Mr. Han demanded, and Jaehwan sighed dramatically before holding it out for the math teacher to take. “Let’s see…” He opened the note and rotated it so he could read it. He cleared his throat. “‘You look so cute today, happy anniversary, I love you,’” Mr. Han read out loud.

The class awwwwed and Jaehwan looked at Minhyun to send him an absolutely enamored smile. The older boy fixed him with the cutest eye crinkle smile he’d ever seen, and it was only Mr. Han’s vaguely disgusted sigh that broke their gazes.

“As nice as young love is,” the teacher said, “I don’t let students pass notes in class. Go see the principal, I’ll let him know you’re coming.”

“Of course, Mr. Han,” Minhyun conceded. Jaehwan waited for him to reach his seat before extending his hand. Minhyun took it with another eye smile and the couple left the classroom hand in hand.

When the door was shut behind them, Jaehwan laughed, “I can’t believe you were fine with the whole class hearing that!”

“Mm,” his boyfriend agreed. He smoothed his thumb over the back of Jaehwan’s hand. “Well, you know, I figured that since that’s the way I found out you liked me, it would be poetic if that’s how you found out I loved you.”

Jaehwan scrunched up his nose. “That’s not very romantic. You didn’t even _say_ it to me.”

Minhyun scoffed. “It was so romantic!”

His boyfriend gave him his signature _you’re crazy_ look. “You’re confessing your love to me in a high school.”

“Fine,” Minhyun rolled his eyes. “Just pretend I didn’t just tell you I loved you and I’ll find a better way to do this totally not nerve-wracking thing all over again.”

The big smile Jaehwan had been trying to keep contained finally broke out on his face, and he squeezed Minhyun’s hand as he nudged into his side. “I’m just kidding. I love you too.”

And although Jaehwan really did think that confessing to someone indirectly while also in a high school was incredibly unromantic, it was Minhyun saying he loved him, and so it was okay. Because Jaehwan loved him too. More than he ever thought was possible.

**Author's Note:**

> hopefully this wasn't a complete disaster, i hope you liked it :) also it's WILD it's 8.8k words hdlkfjsl what it's so much longer than anything else i've posted so far. 
> 
> (edit: thank you for 200 kudos omg!! and 1.5k hits???? wtf thank you???)
> 
> (another edit: thANK YOU for 300 kudos and 2.5k hits habldkhlfs i can't believe-)
> 
> (aNother edit: oh my GOD thank you for 400 kudos and 3k hits! i'm so glad you all love the story!)


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